


Ghosts of the Past

by SailorChibi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Identity Reveal, Implied Soul Mates, Possessive Behavior, Protective Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: All around her, Chat Noir saw wisps of color. At first he thought it was the incredibly strong winds, whipping up another storm. But then the color began to solidify. Rena Rouge gasped. Chat Noir’s mouth dropped open, but he couldn’t remember how to form words as dozens – no, hundreds of Ladybugs began to appear around Marinette. Men and women of all different shapes and sizes and skin colors and ethnicities, each costume unqiue, but all with the same black spots on red.And in the middle of them all, visible only because all of the Ladybugs were see-through like ghosts, was Marinette.





	Ghosts of the Past

“Chat, what do we do?” Rena Rouge’s voice trembled audibly. Chat Noir risked a glance at her and saw his own fear reflected in her wide brown eyes. She and Carapace huddled close to him, both of them waiting for him to tell them what their next step should be.

Problem was, Chat Noir didn’t know what to tell them. His years of experience hadn’t prepared him for this. Ladybug was gone, banished god knows where by some akuma. Hawkmoth – his _father_ \- had the Ladybug Miraculous. The only thing keeping him from winning was the black ring on Chat Noir’s shaking hand. He, Carapace and Rena Rouge were in no shape to keep fighting; frankly, it was a miracle they were still conscious. He could see the world falling apart around them, but he didn’t know how to fix it.

Hawkmoth laughed, stepping forward out of the dust storm. Power crackled across his purple suit. He looked at them with open disdain. For a moment, Chat Noir wondered if Hawkmoth would still look at him that way if he knew that he was looking at his son. He felt no desire to find out, if only because he was pretty sure the answer was a resounding no.

“Dude!” Carapace squeaked. “We gotta move!”

“No,” Chat Noir whispered. They couldn’t keep putting Paris in danger. They had to stop this. He went to stand and couldn’t, falling back to one knee. He thought his left leg might be broken.

“Chat Noir, give me your Miraculous,” Hawkmoth ordered.

“No,” Chat Noir said, louder and stronger this time. “Never!”

“Then I’ll take it.” Hawkmoth smiled, baring his teeth, and stepped forward.

Somewhere, glass shattered.

“ _Get away from him_!”

Hawkmoth recoiled as a petite, slender figure appeared, literally falling out of the sky to land to the left of the huddled heroes. It was Ladybug, Chat Noir thought giddily, it had to be. Except – 

“Marinette?!” Rena Rouge cried out.

And it was. Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood before them, shoulders squared, feet firmly planted. The wind whipped at her pigtails, but Chat Noir could still make out her burning blue eyes. She glared at Hawkmoth with all the rage that a 5’5 girl could muster, one shaking fist clenched at her side.

“Hawkmoth!” Marinette yelled, pointing a finger at the villain. “You’ve threatened the city of Paris for the last time!”

“Oh really?” Hawmoth said mockingly. “You have no Miraculous. Your heroes can’t stop me.” He threw a smirk at Chat Noir, Rena Rouge and Carapace, then tilted his head back. “No one can stop me! People of Paris, watch as I destroy your last hope!”

Chat Noir followed his gaze instinctively, catching sight of the apartment buildings, homes and businesses around them. Hundreds of faces peered out from behind windows, watching the battle.

“I will stop you!” Marinette shouted.

Hawkmoth laughed at her. “You? What can one girl do?”

“I never said I was alone,” Marinette said smugly. She spread her arms. “I didn’t know it before, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are _never_ alone.”

All around her, Chat Noir saw wisps of color. At first he thought it was the incredibly strong winds, whipping up another storm. But then the color began to solidify. Rena Rouge gasped. Chat Noir’s mouth dropped open, but he couldn’t remember how to form words as dozens – no, hundreds of Ladybugs began to appear around Marinette. Men and women of all different shapes and sizes and skin colors and ethnicities, each costume unqiue, but all with the same black spots on red.

And in the middle of them all, visible only because all of the Ladybugs were see-through like ghosts, was Marinette.

“What?” Hawkmoth hissed. “What is this?”

“You’ve messed with the Black Cat for the last time,” said one Ladybug, a woman with dark skin and a scar on her face. Her weapon was a set of fans; she whipped them up and moved like she was dancing, but in reality she was _attacking_. Chat Noir didn’t even realize it until she was already on Hawkmoth, and she may have been a ghost but the force of her impact still drove Hawkmoth to the ground.

That seemed to be a sign. The Ladybugs converged on a screaming Hawkmoth. Only Marinette stood back, hands on her hips, watching with her mouth set in a grim line.

It occurred to Chat Noir, somewhat belatedly, that he should probably get Marinette out of the line of fire, but he couldn’t move.

Hawkmoth’s screams died away. There was a flash of purple light. One of the Ladybugs, this one a tall man, broke off from the swarming mass of red-and-black to approach Marinette. He handed her something. Marinette took it and pulled her arm back, then threw the item as high into the sky as she could.

“ _Miraculous LADYBUG_!” she screamed. A thousand other Ladybugs screamed with her.

The item exploded in a wash of red light in the form of ladybugs, spiraling out over the city. Chat Noir didn’t realize how labored his breathing had become until the ladybugs swirled around him, and he could take a deep breath without feeling pain radiating through his chest. Rena Rouge flexed her hands with a look of wonder on her face, while Carapace moved his hands from now unmarked side.

Marinette – no, Ladybug now, having been transformed by the red light, caught whatever it was she’d thrown into the sky. The other Ladybugs stood back, revealing a cowering Gabriel Agreste on the ground. The sight of him should have hurt, but Chat Noir had become numb to the pain by now. There would be time for that later, he thought, pushing it aside. He’d held it off for the past three days; he wouldn’t give in to it now.

“Gabriel Agreste, you have hurt hundreds of people and misused the Butterfly Miraculous,” said one the Ladybugs. This one was an older woman, with white hair. “How do you plea?”

“I regret nothing,” Gabriel hissed. 

The woman nodded. “We expected you to respond that way. As apostles of the goddess of creation, we will decide your punishment.” She held her hands out to either side. 

Chat Noir watched in silence as all of the Ladybugs joined hands. Then _his_ Ladybug, his lady, walked forward and joined them. They stared down at Gabriel in silence, hundreds of eyes behind hundreds of black-and-red masks, filled with unspoken judgment. 

“We have decided,” the white-haired woman said. “For your crimes against the Butterfly Miraculous, we sentence you to purgatory.”

Gabriel clenched a fist. “You think you can stop me?”

“We decide your punishment. We don’t carry it out.”

From the shadows around them, Chat Noir saw them stirring. His heart stopped as the ghosts of hundreds of Chat Noirs emerged from the darkness. Like the Ladybugs, they were men and women of all ages and ethnicities. The Ladybugs parted, allowing the Chat Noirs to gather around Gabriel. A strange compulsion swept through Chat Noir; before he could stop himself, he was struggling to his feet and stepping forward to join hands with them.

“As apostles of the god of destruction, we carry out your punishment,” one of them said.

Bubbling black came from their linked hands. It oozed into the middle of the circle and swarmed over Gabriel. His scream made Chat Noir’s chest hurt and his knees go kind of weak, but the hands of the other Chat Noirs kept him standing. He couldn’t have backed away if he wanted to, not that he did. After everything his father had done, Gabriel deserved this. He held onto that thought.

The screams cut off abruptly and the black power faded away. Gabriel was gone.

The hands let go and he staggered in surpirse. Chat Noir was alone, suddenly. He turned his head to see what was going on and watched in awe as the ghosts of the Chat Noirs and Ladybugs swarmed each other. Literally. All he could see around him were happy and crying faces as partners reunited. 

And then, through the sea of ghosts, came his own Ladybug. Her blue eyes were filled with tears as she crashed into him, her arms around his neck. He grabbed her and held her desperately, pressing his face into her hair. She smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, a familiar scent that never ceased to make him relax and feel at ease. Then she was crying and so was he.

“Oh Chat, I thought he was going to kill you,” she wept. 

“My Lady,” Chat Noir whispered. It was all he could say. The past two days had been _horrible_. Hawkmoth's akuma had sealed Ladybug away, leaving the rest of them to struggle on without her. He'd half-thought that she might be dead. It was only the hope that maybe she wasn't that had kept him going - that, and the knowledge that she would want them to protect the city in her stead. No matter how helpless things seemed, he'd known that she wouldn't want him or the other Miraculous holders to give up.

"Marinette?" That voice was the only warning they got before Chat Noir and Ladybug were literally tackled by Rena Rouge and Carapace. "Oh my god, Marinette! You're Ladybug. Of course you're Ladybug!"

"It's me," Ladybug said, tears streaking her face when she raised her head. She didn't let go of Chat Noir, thank god, but she did smile tearfully at their friends.

"Marinette," Chat Noir whispered, his voice cracking, and she looked back at him.

"It's okay, _Chaton_ ," she said. "It's over." She let go of him with one hand, other hand tightening as though to make up for it, and showed him what she clutched in said hand. His eyes widened at the sight of a broach. There was no doubt as to what it could be, because it gave off the same energy that his ring and her earrings did. It was the Butterfly Miraculous. That was, he realized suddenly, what she'd thrown into the air before.

"You did..." he breathed. "We won."

Her smile widened as more tears spilled from her eyes. "We won."

He let out a joyous whoop, scooping her up and spinning her around. She let out an excited laugh, her pigtails streaming out behind her as they spun in circles. And as he did, he noticed that the ghosts had faded away. It was just the four of them, on a city street that held no signs of the destruction that had been wrought here minutes before. He wondered where the ghosts had gone. Wherever they were, he hoped they were happy. Being Ladybug and Chat Noir was hard and painful; he couldn't think of a better reward than getting to rest with his partner. They deserved it.

\---

Three days later, Adrien was finally beginning to feel human again. He and Marinette walked into Master Fu's shop together. As they knelt around the small table, Master Fu joined them with the chest he kept their Miraculous in. Marinette reached into her purse and retrieved the Butterfly Miraculous. Master Fu took it from her with a tender smile, cupping it in his hands.

"Thank you, Marinette," he said softly. "We will be forever in your debt."

"It wasn't just me," Marinette said, leaning comfortably into Adrien's side. They hadn't been apart since that moment on the street. The past three days had been _insane_ : Marinette's identity as Ladybug was out, and so was Adrien's as Chat Noir - between Marinette and his father, it hadn't taken people long to make the obvious connection. Gabriel Agreste had disappeared, and neither Adrien nor Marinette could explain where he'd gone. That meant there was no one to charge with the crimes he'd committed. Needless to say, there was a lot of question marks right now. 

But all Adrien cared about was his lady. The courts could seize all of the Agreste money and the business for restitution. As long as he had Marinette, he didn't care. He'd come too close to losing her.

“Of course not. I’m very proud of all of you,” Master Fu said. “It’s unfortunate that your identities were compromised, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Sometimes, it’s necessary.”

Adrien breathed a quiet sigh of relief and felt Marinette relax a little. They’d both been concerned that he would be angry.

"Would you tell me what happened?" Master Fu said, looking up at her. "Where were you?"

Marinette frowned. "I don't know. I think I was still here. It was like... I could see everyone, but no one could see me. And when I tried to interact with you, there was a barrier of some kind keeping me separate. No matter how much I hit it, I wasn't strong enough to break it." Her eyes watered, and Adrien wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He'd heard this story before, and it always upset her.

Master Fu nodded gravely. "I see. But then, how did you break free?"

"Hawkmoth was going after Chat," Marinette said, lowering her head. "I... I was so angry. Chat is _mine_." The vehemance in her voice shocked Adrien. He heard Tikki giggle and Plagg snort. 

"What happened?" Master Fu prompted, seeing as how Adrien was speechless.

"Hawkmoth crossed a line," Tikki piped up. She flew out of Marinette's purse to land comfortably on the table. "The Black Cat has always belonged to the Ladybug, and vice versa. My bugs can get brutal when they're pushed too far." She sounded unfathomably smug about it, too. "We've lost too many Black Cats for Hawkmoth to take another prematurely."

"They helped me," Marinette said, reaching out and touching a finger to the top of Tikki's head. "They were angry on my behalf. They said they'd help me save my Chat."

"And in return?" Master Fu asked.

"They missed their own Black Cats. They wanted to see their partners," Marinette said, her face set in a determined look. 

"They weren't together?" Adrien said, startled.

She looked at him then. "They can only be together when we're together. When the Miraculous are together."

"Then I guess we'll have to be together forever," he said, as though it was obvious, and she blushed. He was vaguely aware that Master Fu was smiling at both of them, but all he could focus on was the fact that Marinette was smiling shyly at him.

"I guess so."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
